09-20-2008, 01:28 AM
Catholic Culture
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Thomas Digal, 36, and Brahmanand Digal, 41, came there from Kandhamal's Dimiriguda village on Sept. 13 with a list of items Hindu extremists gave them to buy for a conversion ceremony set for two days later. The zealots told the Catholics to come prepared for the ritual or face death, along with a third option: move out of the area.
"What to do? What will we tell them?" asked an agitated Father Dushmanth Naik, who formerly served at their parish, as he spoke with UCA News. "We cannot provide them security. It is not easy to tell them to face death with families. We have no alternatives."
The village is among 12 mission stations under Pobingia parish. Kandhamal lies within the territory of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar archdiocese.
The current Pobingia parish priest, Father Prasanna Singh, told UCA News on Sept. 16 that he had "no idea" what happened to his people after the planned Hindu conversion ceremony. "I do not know. I have no information," he said.
He had said three days earlier that most of the 100 Catholic families in his parish had left the faith. "I have become a pastor without a flock, and they have become a flock without a pastor," the priest lamented.
The Hindu "conversion" campaign continues in all 14 Catholic parishes in Kandhamal where no Masses have been held since the violence started. Hindu militants have banned priests and other Church workers from these areas.
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Thomas Digal, 36, and Brahmanand Digal, 41, came there from Kandhamal's Dimiriguda village on Sept. 13 with a list of items Hindu extremists gave them to buy for a conversion ceremony set for two days later. The zealots told the Catholics to come prepared for the ritual or face death, along with a third option: move out of the area.
"What to do? What will we tell them?" asked an agitated Father Dushmanth Naik, who formerly served at their parish, as he spoke with UCA News. "We cannot provide them security. It is not easy to tell them to face death with families. We have no alternatives."
The village is among 12 mission stations under Pobingia parish. Kandhamal lies within the territory of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar archdiocese.
The current Pobingia parish priest, Father Prasanna Singh, told UCA News on Sept. 16 that he had "no idea" what happened to his people after the planned Hindu conversion ceremony. "I do not know. I have no information," he said.
He had said three days earlier that most of the 100 Catholic families in his parish had left the faith. "I have become a pastor without a flock, and they have become a flock without a pastor," the priest lamented.
The Hindu "conversion" campaign continues in all 14 Catholic parishes in Kandhamal where no Masses have been held since the violence started. Hindu militants have banned priests and other Church workers from these areas.